Even When I'm Dead
by Dcfan100
Summary: What would you do if you only had 48 hours to live? And more importantly, do they have foosball in heaven? NejiTen
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, I really shouldn't be doing this story since I've still got a lot of things to update but hey...when plot bunnies attack. So yeah, I just had this really weird idea that wouldn't go away and hence I wrote this story. Oh if only my worldviews teacher could see me now! Well he'd probably be trying to kill me for mangling philosophy but still. So, this is another NejiTen, not like I ever write anything different in Naruto. Anyway, there is not much to say about it other than, I hope you enjoy and please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Nartuo...or foosball.**

Sometimes questions pop into your head for no reason. Sometimes they're questions about truth, morals, ethics, laws or life in general. Questions that make you sit down and think. Questions like 'How did we get here, where are we going and why are we here?'

But most of the time, these questions are more along of the lines of 'How can I believe that it's **not **butter!' and 'Where in the world are you Carmen Sandiego!' In other words, really stupid stuff.

"I wonder if there's foosball in heaven?" Well this was one of those really stupid times. Neji opened one eye and turned his head to look over at his brown haired teammate before throwing her a questioning glance. "What? I'm just wondering." She shrugged picking another kunai out of her pouch and throwing it at the target.

"Of course there is foosball is heaven Tenten!" Lee shouted from the area where he was pounding away on another training dummy. "It would simply be cruel not to have the youthful game there! Never fear!"

"Yeah, but what about people who don't think foosball is 'youthfu'l? I know Ino doesn't like it sooo…" she let the sentence trail off. Lee stopped, frowned, furrowed his eyebrows, shrugged and went back to whacking the crap out of the training dummy. "What do you think Neji?"

"Why are we talking about this again?" he asked after a long pause.

"Because I really love foosball and if I get to heaven and there is no foosball," Tenten started pulling out another set of Kunai with a grin "I'm gonna march right over to God and ask him why he doesn't have the most awesomest game in the entire universe," She finished with a smirk as the kunai hit the center of the various targets littered all over the field.

"Tenten, there's about seven things wrong with your…"

"Well excuse me mister 'I studied theology this summer so stop your futile attempts at understanding the universe mortal'" Tenten smiled. "Now answer the question! Is there foosball in heaven?" Neji allowed a small grin to show on his face for a split second before it vanished back into his expressionless demeanor.

"I don't know," Neji finished with a sigh as he continued to try and meditate.

"Pshh, well you're a big help," Tenten said rolling her eyes.

"Well I guess we'll never going to find out until you get there," Neji said "Just forget about it." Needless to say…Tenten didn't.

* * *

"Tenten? Could we please hurry this up? I do have a schedule to keep you know." a crisp British voice said as Tenten felt herself being jerked a bit on the shoulder as the man attempted to wake her up. The weapons mistress blinked a few times sleepily before realizing that there was someone else in her room. Man, she must have really been asleep. Usually, even a cat setting a foot in her room was enough to make her wake up. Quickly she bolted upright in her bed fully awake with a kunai ready in her hand.

"Okay! Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" she glared.

"My, my," the man chuckled. "You are quite a spunky one when you're awake aren't you?" Tenten looked at him. He was a very tall man with a large black suit, white gloves a large top hat and a long black walking cane. She raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?" she asked again. The man just smiled before taking his hat off and extending his hand.

"I'm Bartholomew, your guardian angel." Tenten just looked at him like he was crazy.

"Righhhhttt," she said skeptically before shaking her head. This was obviously just some prank. Someone, Kiba she'd wager was probably using the transformation jutsu. "This is a joke right? Haha, very funny guys." She leaned forward and looked at him closely before blinking once in shock. She couldn't feel the man's presence at all. With him in plain sight and standing right in front of her she should be able to sense him. Chakra, body heat…something! It was like he didn't exist to her ninja senses. Quickly, she flicked the kunai at him. Bartholomew just stood there calmly as the kunai passed right through him before it vanished. "You've got to be kidding me." she muttered

"Angels never kid," Bartholomew said looking at her in amusement "Although we do enjoy a good chuckle now and then, especially over some of those old Gilligan's Island reruns." Tenten ignored his comments and raced to the window and looked out to see it was completely blank. Looking out she could see nothing but a white void for miles and miles. She spun around and looked at the supposed 'Angel'.

"No it's not genjutsu," he said as if reading her mind. She looked at the man again.

"Weird," she mumbled.

"Someone wrong?" he asked.

"No…it's just that I thought, you know, angels wore big white robes and had really long wings," she said using her hands to mimic wings.

"Yes, well," Bartholomew said clearing his throat "It can be a bit of an embarrassment to have you human double over in shock and have a heart attack when they first meet you."

"Okay," Tenten said composing herself. "So, you're...my guardian angel?" the angel just nodded and Tenten shrugged sitting back down on her bed and crossing her legs and staring at him curiously. "So, why are you here?" she asked.

"Well, we heard your question earlier today." He began.

"About foosball?" she asked leaning forward.

"Indeed. I was sent here to tell you that there are indeed foosball tables in heaven."

"Seriously?" Tenten asked leaping forward, all traces of her former suspicious nature disappearing. The angel just nodded. "I knew it!" Tenten shouted. "That's awesome!"

"Isn't it!" The angel replied with a smile "And we've got you scheduled for a game this Wednesday!"

"Awesome! Wait…what?"

* * *

"So, you're telling me that I'm going to die this Wednesday?"

"Well…technically you're going to die Tuesday at 11:59." The angel coughed adjusting his tie.

"So you just came down here to tell me that you have foosball in heaven and that I'm gonna die in 48 hours?" Tenten asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We just decided that you might like to know before you die." He shrugged.

"And how exactly do I die?" Tenten asked incredulously.

"I don't know," the angel sighed, "I'm a guardian and a messenger, I don't know the details." Tenten just crossed her arms and gave him a sharp look. "You know, most humans would be quite thrown by this news." He said.

"I'm not most humans," Tenten said rolling her eyes. "And what do you expect me to do? Fall down to me knees or beg you for a way to keep myself from dying?" Bartholomew just sighed and looked upwards.

"You see what I have to put up with Pete?" he shouted before shaking his head. He grinned and gave her a wink before clapping his hands. Slowly, his form fading.

"And where are you going?" Tenten asked watching him go.

"Back," was his only reply as he became more and more ghostlike until finally there was no trace that he'd ever been in the room. Suddenly, she heard a sound that resembled someone snapping their fingers except about a hundred times louder. Instantly, Tenten bolted up in bed wide eyed and breathing heavily.

She ran a hand through her hair and looked around the room. 'Just a dream,' she thought to herself. Suddenly, she spied an envelope on her dresser. Cautiously, she reached a hand over towards it. Slowly, she opened it and read the golden perfectly scrawled letters.

_Remember, enjoy your last 48 hours on earth. _

_Sincerely, Bartholomew_

"Crap"

**There you have it. Not that good I know but thats what reviews are for right? :D To tell me what I can improve. I'd love to hear from you! So, until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2! Sorry for the long wait! As you probably know, I was pretty busy, then when I did have time for some reason I decided to do another fic and then I got writers block. So, it was tough. Now, this chapter is slower than the other one but it is kind of just adjusting and setting the stage for the next few chapters. Okay, now that I got the authors note out of the way I would just like to say Thank You Everyone one who reviewed or put this on your favorites or alert list! You guys rock! Seriously! Also, I would like to say that if you have any suggestions, questions or comments I would love to hear them! Now on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Kishi is in no way losing money by me writing this fic and more importantly do you even care? I really doubt these things really protect me from lawsuits anyway. **

"Tenten is late," Lee said pausing in the middle of his sit up routine to state the obvious. Neji just sighed. It was true. Every member of Team Gai usually showed up for training quite early but today Tenten was at least twenty minutes late. "Maybe she's sick," Lee pondered rubbing a hand across his chin.

"Well if our youthful teammate is un-youthfully sick we should just start without her and let her get some rest today."

"No," Neji said calmly shaking his head. "Tenten would've dragged herself out here no matter how sick she was. She's too stubborn to admit that she's in no condition to fight."

"If it was an emergency Tenten would have told someone by now," Gai said with a grin. "We all have days where we just don't feel like getting…!"

"I'm going to check on her," Neji said swiftly turning around and running off in the direction of Tenten's apartment.

"It's so good to see my students have such youthful concern for each other!" Gai sniffed

* * *

Being told that you've only got forty eight hours left to live doesn't shake a person up as much as you might think. Sure there's the whole 'oh crap' and 'what have I done with my life' moments which are usually followed by some kind of deep philosophical questioning but after all that's over what the first thing that pops into your head?

"I'm hungry," Tenten said to herself. Food! After sitting in bed for about five minutes Tenten had shrugged, quickly leaped out of bed and headed for the kitchen. She reached into the cupboard and pulled out a couple of rice balls before sitting down at the table to think.

It wasn't as if this revelation that she was going to die had put a damper on her plans or anything. There hadn't been any major holidays or events coming up that she'd been eagerly awaiting. Life had been pretty quite since the war. The number of missions had gone down quite a bit and the ones the team did get were usually only C ranked with the occasional B. She didn't really have any family to worry about either except…her team. Lee, Gai Sensei, and Neji...if she died. Tenten shook her head. She probably wasn't getting enough sleep. She was either going crazy or her overactive imagination had kicked into overdrive again.

Walking back into her room Tenten picked up the note again and looked it over. She could have written the whole thing in her sleep but this definitely wasn't her handwriting. She might still be hallucinating right now but that didn't seem likely. Last time she'd started to hallucinate (an event that involved more than your average amount caffeine) there had been way more elephants than there were now (don't ask).

"Tenten!" a voice yelled from outside her apartment.

"Crap!" Tenten said looking up at the clock before rushing towards the door and yanking it open to see a bored looking Hyuga with his arms crossed. "Srry Neji," Tenten grinned sheepishly. "I lost track of time, I'm getting ready right now."

"Are you alright Tenten?" Neji asked passively as Tenten rushed back into her bedroom.

"Um…yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she asked quickly putting her uniform on and checking her scrolls.

"I can't recall the last time you've been late for training," Neji explained with a sigh.

"I over slept," Tenten shrugged walking out of the room and heading for the door.

"Hn, just making sure you were alright." Neji said with a nod. Tenten smiled as she followed Neji out of the building. Suddenly, Tenten remembered the note from last night. Quickly, she pulled it out of her pocket and showed it to Neji.

"What does this look like to you?" she asked quickly as the two walked towards the training grounds. Neji looked it over carefully.

"It's blank," he said handing it back to her and looking at her face with a hint of concern. Tenten frowned and looked back down at the note.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Neji asked.

"I'm fine Neji," Tenten nodded trying to think up of some excuse for asking about a blank sheet of paper…well, at least she tried.

"_You still think you're crazy don't you?" _a voice right beside Tenten spoke up. Tenten jumped in surprise and turned her head to see Bartholomew along side her. Tenten looked at him wide eyed then at Neji. The Hyuga didn't seem to have sensed anything was out of the ordinary. She turned her attention back to Bartholomew. _"Just think what you're saying, I'll hear it. That way your friend won't think you're completely insane." _He smiled.

"_No one else can see you can they?"_ Tenten asked.

"_Only other spirits," _He nodded.

"_So why can Neji see the piece of paper but not the writing?" _

"_We wanted to let you know that you weren't completely crazy."_

"_Great job," _Tenten said rolling her eyes sarcastically.

"_And this why I don't like interfering directly like this,"_ Bartholomew sighed. _"Now I've got a question of my own." _

"_If you can read my mind then why do you have to ask?" _Tenten said raising an eyebrow.

"_It's a learning experience please just roll with it, it makes my job easier." _Bartholomew sighed. _"What are you going to leave behind?" _

"_My apartment and weapons."_

"_Is that it?"_

"_I…guess so."_

"_Will you have any regrets when you go?"_

"_Well…I know my friends,"_ she looked over at Neji again. _"Are gonna miss me."_

"_Then I suggest that you make sure their final moments with you are good ones." _Bartholomew smiled. _"Make sure the things you do are worthwhile. 'Hang out' with your friends, tell them how much you appreciate them, maybe spend some more time with the gent beside you…who is quite the looker wouldn't you agree." _Tenten shot him a look but felt her face growing red at the same time. _"Well I just dropped by to have a little talk, I really must be going now." _He sighed pulling a watch out of his coat pocket._ "I'll be back tomorrow night!" _ and with a tip of his hat he was gone.

* * *

"That was a most invigorating and youthful training session!" Lee shouted as he finished his pushups.

"Indeed it was Lee! Indeed it was!" Gai Sensei laughed with a broad smile. "But unfortunately my students I have a mission this afternoon so you can all take the rest of the day off!" Gai said striking a dramatic pose before giving everyone a thumbs up and a smile so bright is made an audible 'Ping' sound. Neji and Tenten both sighed. (You'd think they'd be used to this after six years)

"I shall eagerly be training in anticipation for our next session!" Lee yelled jumping up and down. Gai gave him a thumbs up.

"Good luck Sensei!" Tenten smiled, Neji gave his traditional "Hn," and gave a respectful nod. Gai saluted the three before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Sooooo," Tenten said turning towards Neji. "Did you have anything planned for this afternoon?"

"Meditation and I'm heading down the Hokage's office to fill out the Jonin…" he stopped short "Never mind," he sighed.

"For the what?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, can't you tell us Mister high and mighty Jonin?" Tenten asked curiously with a grin.

"Hn, It's nothing," Neji said quickly turning his face away.

"The Jonin teachers application!" Tenten shouted snapping her fingers.

"Yosh! You want students of your own who will call you Sensei!" Lee shouted. Neji sighed and closed his eyes but his facial expression gave away the fact that Tenten had been right.

"Does Gai Sensei know about this?" Tenten asked.

"Yes," Neji sighed. "But I asked him to keep quiet about it."

"Why?" Tenten asked with a perfectly innocent smile as Lee did taijutsu routines in celebration.

"I really didn't want the extra attention, and I didn't want you two getting your hope ups for nothing," Neji explained.

"Hey, you're a prestigious Jonin from one of Konoha's most prestigious clans, of course you're gonna make it," Tenten said nudging him in the shoulder. Neji popped a rare smile.

"Is there anything me and Tenten can do to help you achieve your youthful goal?" Lee asked with enthusiasm.

"I do need references, people to say I'm reliable and teacher material," Neji sighed. Tenten looked at him expectantly. "Would you two like to come?" he finished with a sigh.

"Yosh! Of course!" Lee shouted again. "And in two months when the new academy graduates come in we can see your new students!" Tenten just put a smile on her face and nodded. Neji bowed his head a little in there direction.

"I'll meet you at the Hokage tower then."

**And that's where we'll stop. The problem with listing exact an exact time is that sometimes you end up with to little time to do all the stuff you want and sometimes you just end up with to much time. Ah well, I hope this chapter wasn't to bad. Once again reviews are loved and comments and questions are always welcome! Until next time!**


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